Hi Josh. Hope things are going great in Sunny California. We've been having some unseasonably warm weather here. The challenge is that everything is turning into a skating rink especially our driveway. Ben pulled a little too far out of the garage before turning towards the driveway and ended up stocjnin the slope mainly because his front wheels were on pure ice.
We are slowly pulling together a medley of songs for our family to perform at the Stake Christmas party on Saturday. We are both excited for it and excited to be finished it. Here is the plan:
1. Mia starts with "Jingle Bells" on Ukelele on a stool in the spotlight at the mike with Mom playing bells in the background
2. Ben comes in with a piano solo "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
3. Sam and Abby come up and Abby sings "Said Samuel" while Sam plays the guitar.
4. Mom and Mia and then me join in the second verse.
5. Ben plays intro to "Away in a Manger" and accompanies the family singing this to close.
Amelia pulled out her homeschooling calendar today and started writing down all our December events and pretty much filled every day in with something. Ben has a school Christmas concert plus a play. Sam has an institute choir concert just like you did before you left.
Ben was invited to the LCHS awards ceremony. Little did we know we would have to wait through 2h of awards to get to the honor role so Ben could get his very own.... wait for it ... pen. Woot woot.
As you can see from the attached picture that the girls have already imposed their Christmas spirit on our home with decorations.
In other news, the boys have found an alternative to video games. Once Sam stopped working, he decided to help fill he time, he would get into Dungeons and Dragons... in my day parents worried about this game like we do about video games today. The good thing is that it is face to face and the kids are doing it together and with Cody and even the DeVries boys. Like all things, done in moderation it can be good.
I got an invitation from Sister Lambert this last week to pause every day and identify the hand of God in my life and to note the whispering of the spirit. Then, she invited me to share in Sunday School.
So I shared my most recent experience from yesterday.
One of the people that Sam worked with (Daryl Teeter) at Classic, has been coming to Church and was baptized yesterday. Because Sam worked with him, Sam wanted to go to the baptism after coaching his Gymnastics class. I had met Daryl in SS class a few Sunday's ago and I had the impression to go to the baptism. Saturday afternoon the opposition started. First the car was dead, then I plugged in the charger to a cord that started spitting fire. Finally I got the car started and headed off. First tender mercy was that the baptism started late and so I got there just in time and when I entered the RS room, there was Sam. It was a great feeling to see him there of his own volition. Then, on Sunday, in Ward Council, I found out that Sam had been asked to perform the confirmation! Of course he hadn't thought to tell us, but we were proud of him all the same.
There is something just amazing that happens in little ways when we follow the spirit.
Another conversation that I enjoyed at Church yesterday was with Brother Don Bates. He was telling me about his new job and how they were dealing with various challenges and implementing different initiatives. He made the statement that he was "Drinking the Kool-Aid, essentially meaning he was buying into the company direction and philosophy wholeheartedly. This sparked a conversation with Ben and I this morning before he drove himself to Seminary (still hard to believe that he's able to do that!) where we talked about drinking the Kool-Aid of the Gospel plan and participating in the church. We talked about the purpose and joy of having a calling and serving in the church. I shared with him my testimony of how important that has been for me and about wholeheartedly being "All In" so that we can have the full joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his Church.
So now you have just a few weeks left, I hope you are still drinking the Kool-Aid of your mission experience and being wholehearted about your service and efforts. It is the true path of happiness.
Love Dad.
From Josh - Enduring to the End
The gospel of Jesus Christ embodies five main points, first faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by the proper authority, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.
I feel on my mission it has been such a great chance to develop faith, I have had many opportunities to repent, I have taught and have tried to stay true to my baptismal covenants, I have been following the spirit as much as I can... Enduring to the end is a little difficult at times though.
This week was not the most eventful week, since it was thanksgiving, we have been having a fun time though with the Christmas initiative #lighttheworld, it has a great message, but what frustrates me is when people don't want to listen, or get into the spirit of Christmas, what makes me the most frustrated is when you have such a wonderful message that you know will change peoples lives and they don't seem to see it.
I recently read in Alma 27 and one of my favourite few verses are 17-18 when Ammon sees Alma and his joy is so full that he is overcome and falls to the ground. Then next verse explains that that is the joy in which only comes to the humble seekers of happiness. A happiness that is explained earlier that comes from seeing each other still strong in the faith, I encourage you all to seek to continue to develop your testimonies that we may see each other whether it be in this life or the next still strong in the faith.
I am sorry that this is short, we have been busy and I don't have much time, I hope all is well with you all! That everyone is getting into the Christmas season! I love you all a ton. See you soon.
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